South Carolina Landlord Compliance Kit: Deposit, Notice and Eviction Checklists with an Excel Tracker

Who it is for

Landlords and property managers with rentals in South Carolina, and tenants who want the same record, from move-in through move-out or a court case.

Not the right fit if

Your rental is outside South Carolina: get that state's kit. Not legal advice, not a lawyer's review of a lease, notice or court case, and not a set of legal notice forms; city and county rules aren't covered.

Why it is different

• Built only from our South Carolina data files, checked November 2026 against 3 official pages, among them South Carolina Legislature: Code Title 27, Chapter 40; South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 27, Chapter 37 (Ejectment of Tenants); S.C. Code of Laws Title 22 Chapter 3 (2024 archive), plus National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (a vetted secondary source, marked in the kit) where no official page could be read.
• 7 items the official pages didn't state are left out of the rules and put on a short look-up list with the page to check, never guessed.
• The workbook recalculates with zero formula errors and works out South Carolina notice and deposit dates for you.

What is inside

• Start here. How to use the kit, the 16 confirmed South Carolina rules at a glance and a short look-up list of 7 points to check: interest on the deposit, where the deposit is held, court, filing fee, hearing after filing, paying to stop the case, diversion or mediation (statewide), each with the official page.
• South Carolina landlord rules checklist. Deposits, notice periods, the eviction case and the small claims limit, each confirmed rule with its source link and check date. What it confirms: deposit limit: No maximum in 27-40-410; return deadline: Within 30 days after the tenancy ends, possession is delivered and the tenant asks, or 30 days after the tenant's demand if later (27-40-410(a)); itemized list of deductions: Deductions itemized in a written notice with the amount due (27-40-410(a)); penalty the law states: Three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney fees (27-40-410(b)); ending month-to-month (landlord): Written notice at least 30 days before the termination date in the notice (7 days for week-to-week); ending month-to-month (tenant): Written notice at least 30 days before the termination date in the notice (7 days for week-to-week); rent increase notice: Chapter 40 sets no notice period for rent increases (27-40-910 covers retaliation only); unpaid rent notice: If rent stays unpaid five days from the date due, after written notice of nonpayment and intent to terminate; entry notice: At least 24 hours' notice and reasonable times; scheduled services 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and tenant-requested services 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., announced first; late fee limits: Chapter 40 sets no late fee limit (late charges are only part of the definition of rent); time to answer or appear: After the magistrate's rule to vacate is served, the tenant has ten days to show cause why not to be ejected; judgment to writ: After a verdict for the landlord, the magistrate issues the writ of ejectment within five days; writ to lockout: The officer gives the occupants twenty-four hours to leave voluntarily; who carries out the lockout: The magistrate's constable or the county sheriff carries out the ejectment; right to counsel (statewide): No statewide right to counsel for tenants in eviction cases (as of November 2026, per the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel): its tracker of enacted laws lists no statewide law here; small claims limit (for a deposit dispute): $7,500: the most a small claims case can ask for.
• Move-in and move-out deposit checklist. A room-by-room condition checklist for both visits and the steps after move-out, with South Carolina's return deadline (within 30 days).
• Notice calendar. When each notice must go out: the lead time for every notice the state's text confirms, with a 2027 month-by-month serve-by table worked out with our notice date calculator's rules.
• Eviction timeline sheet. The South Carolina case in order from notice to lockout, with each confirmed stage, an example dated from a sample filing day where the rules give periods, and blanks for your own case dates.
• South Carolina landlord workbook (Excel). A tenant notice log that dates each notice from the South Carolina rules, a deposit tracker that works out the return date for each move-out, and a rent ledger with a running balance.